• Entrepreneurs need tenacity and ability to ‘maneuver’
• Expectations have to be adjusted
• Develop patience
• Stay positive, stay focused
• The market wins every time
• Know your personal strengths and weaknesses – then fill in the blanks with talented team members

More with… Erika Mangrum

Sometimes there’s just too much of a good thing! Read on and learn more from my conversations with A @W guests.

Deb: What’s it like to move from corporate America to entrepreneur?

Erika: The biggest difference is that you don’t have anyone telling you you’re doing a good job, a bad job, or giving you feedback. You have to know what you’re doing and be totally confident in that because you have to look to your customers to give you feedback –– versus a boss saying, “Here’s your performance review and here’s the raise that’s associated with it.”

And be entirely comfortable that it’s not about money, because if you’re going for the dollar in the beginning, it’s hard to be an entrepreneur. I went from making a strong six figure a year income to paying myself $20K a year for the first two years until we had enough money. We kept reinvesting into the company and reinvesting into the company. In the very beginning there was very little revenue and it wasn’t covering the costs. And then once it was, I still wanted to pay myself a very low amount so that I still had enough of a cushion, operationally, if something went wrong. That’s a big, big adjustment, especially when you’re used to that standard of living ad you want to make a change. But it paid off in the long run.

Deb: Financing your company is one of the most frequently asked questions we get from people looking to start their own business, whether it’s at a entrepreneurial level or a small business level (and I think there are distinctions between them ), any suggestions on how folks might look at that part of the equation?

Erika: Financing is the critical element to getting started and firs t and foremost in importance is the business plan. I don’t care if it’s self-funded, going thru the process of having a full fledged business plan asking: what are the risks, what the contingencies, what is the market feasibility, who are the players, what are the milestones you’re going to reach… thinking through that entire process will greatly diminish risks in the business, because you’re already anticipating what could happen and you’re mitigating those circumstances. You also have to have a business plan to be fundable. Someone else has to look at that and share your thoughts and it’s not a matter of just being a good sales person. They’re going to say, “if I invest in YOU, what kind of return will I get?”

Deb: Devil’s advocate here… There are a lot of people that think business plans aren’t all they’re cracked up to be and aren’t really necessary and there are a lot of examples of people that have started businesses without them. One of the things said against them is that sure, you put projections on, you fill your numbers in, but when you have a new product or service, it’s really hard to truly know, down the road, what’s going to happen. Sort of like opening day of your spa – oh, my gosh, I don’t have any customers! Is there a fine line here, is it what you simply choose to do, or do you truly believe in this process?

Erika: I truly believe in this process. Even if the spreadsheet with the financials is off base, you’ve developed a model for the key drivers of the business and that’s critical to being able to recognize where you can step back and make a change. All of the other things outside the spreadsheet, if you will, like the market analysis, the market feasibility study, are for the entrepreneur. It’s not for anyone else except for the person who’s actually initiating that plan. And then if there are multiple people in the company, they need to be on the same page. What if one partner feels strongly that the way to success is one path and the other partner feels that it’s a different path? Going through that process of saying, here are the steps we’re going to take, here’s where we want to be…not a loose vision, but a path. It doesn’t have to end up being that exact path, but it does have to be a common path. I’m a big believer in the business plan.

Deb: New business, launching a business, here you are with Intuiskin, back in that situation you love! How do you make those connections and find the people, the customers that would be interested in what you have to offer – and I don’t mean talking to your friends and family. How do you make connections?

Erika: I think the biggest hurdle for an individual in new business is fear. It’s that fear of reaching out and calling somebody up and saying, “Hey, I have something great and I’d like to talk with you about it!” And doing that over and over again, you develop a reputation after a while where people that know you, trust that you’ve done it before and they’ll take a moment to listen to you. It gets much easier over time. The first time is the hardest. And not being afraid to pick up the phone and put yourself out there and hear, “No, no no, not now, not a good time.” Then you pick up the phone and you call again, you call the next person, you call the next person, you keep on going. And knowing everybody is a customer no matter where you are. I’ve talked to people on the airplane, that I just thought were random people and somehow there was a connection that was there through an association or through somebody that knows somebody. Everybody is a customer or touches a customer.

Deb: I love the phone thing and could probably do a whole show on how that process works and get some suggestions on, well… first words?!

Erika: Nobody likes rejection! Don’t think of it in terms of that. You’re making a connection because you believe you have something that can be helpful to somebody else in some way, shape, or form. So, the alternative is keeping it to yourself and not sharing it. So reach out and share it with somebody!
Say, “Hey, tell me a little bit about what’s going on with your business. I’ve got something that I’m really excited about that’s helped others and I’d love to see if this is a possibility for you. “ And I think that if your genuinely interested in the individual you’re connecting with, most people see that. It’s being authentic.
If not, if there’s no interest whatsoever, then maybe you’ve just made a friend!

Best piece of advice:

When Erika was 19 years old and an intern at GTE, she somehow managed to get a few minutes of time with the VP of Human Resources (a female) and asked her what it took to be successful?

Her answer:
“Erika, you will be successful at the point in time when you stop thinking about your own career and start thinking about the careers of those around you.”